Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 272 - 272: I Want To See You Smile (03)

--This chapter is written in Licia's POV--
It broke my heart to see the ruins of our home for the first time.
But the second time, somehow, felt worse.
Without the shock, only the flood of memories remained.
Every step was familiar.
We could almost picture where we'd be standing in each room of the house, had it not fallen.
A trick of the mind, but one so sweet and so easy to fall for.
With one look, we could almost see the furniture where it used to be, only now broken, its pieces scattered across the ground.
It hurt so much.
In so many of my dreams, this was the place I saw myself, enjoying everyone's company.
I wanted to be here, just a little longer.
Licia: "...Let's get going."
It was no use.
There wasn't any reason to stay.
We loved this house, but seeing what had become of it only caused us pain.
As hard as that may have been, we had to leave it behind.
Ellie: "Is it just me or..."
Bea: "No... Things really are different."
Miwen's house wasn't the only thing that had changed.
While we were away, his city, and perhaps his entire world, had become unrecognizable.
We were once taken aback by the sheer volume of people walking the streets.
Some seemed busy, a few were incredibly outgoing, and still, everyone was unique.
It was hard to capture a single moment and say it was a reflection of the place when everything was so alive and different all the time.
If I had to describe it in one word, it'd be inviting.
Yet, that same chaotic energy this place had, once charming, had fully lost the spark that made it special.
The noises of battles, the shouts, the eyes watching from the windows, the closed doors of most stores, and the few people passing by, all of whom had suspicion-filled looks in their faces...
We couldn't lie to ourselves.
This was now a dangerous world to be in.
Elizabeth: "Even though it would save time, I don't suppose we'll be taking them on?"
In my world, there was a common ambush bandits would use.
They would often have someone pretend they were being attacked, only to cause people to stop in their tracks.
As soon as that were to happen, others would jump from hiding spots, surround, and rob whoever they had ambushed.
Decent mages can often avoid this trap simply by sensing the different mana signatures in the air, but in our case, that wasn't necessary.
From afar, Mia heard the shouts of the pretend victim and her assailant, but also noticed the noise of several others hiding nearby.
Given the situation, it wasn't hard for any of us to put together what was happening.
The biggest shock was that this was happening in this world.
Instead of sending Mia or Liz directly to the Dungeon by themselves and just joining them there, I had asked everyone to come along.
Not for protection, but to show them Miwen's world, and through it, hopefully have them understand him a little better.
Of course, when Miwen eventually decided how he wanted to move, having them that much more used to the way this world wouldn't hurt, either.
I just never expected that we, the ones who were supposed to be the guides, would be the most surprised by all that had changed.
Still, I had high hopes for the future.
After all, this was still his world.
Even if it seemed a little bad, as long as he had a say, it wasn't going to stay this way.
Licia: "There's no point to this if we give Miwen trouble. We'll be on our way."
Interfering now was meaningless.
Even if we stopped one fight, another would start.
Even if we defeated the ambushers and made them regret their actions, another group would eventually try the same idea.
I wasn't an expert on this world, but at least I knew this.
The only way to stop this was to attack the root of the problem, and the only one I knew who could do that was Miwen.
Still, avoiding all the trouble in our way was harder than I thought.
By the time we arrived at the Dungeon, we had already taken five detours.
My patience was starting to run dry, almost in sync with the time we still had.
I came this close to saying 'screw this' and just going ahead with Elizabeth's idea.
Especially when a certain Endless girl decided to start a problem all on her own.
For whatever reason, the Third Daughter decided she wanted to experience what it was like being hit on and protected by the men around her.
So she tweaked the foundations of... or the values... I don't know.
The point is, she did some Endless stuff to the men, and in a matter of seconds, we were surrounded by strangers.
Of course, with women like Bea and Marin around, she was hit with a bitter dose of reality.
Even if she dressed so flashy, certain things just couldn't be helped.
Except that she could also shapeshift, so it took her brother to step in for her to stop.
Using more of their unreasonable powers, he sent everyone back their way, without memory of what they said, did, or the ruckus they caused.
All that he couldn't help with was the time we wasted, apparently.
Haah...
Seriously, dealing with these two was so incredibly hard.
When Miwen returned from the Infinite Hotel and called them attention-seeking brats, I thought he was exaggerating a little because of his nature when confronted, but no. They really were as bad as he said.
If not for the First Daughter's wishes, I would've already given them an earful...
In any case, at least we reached the Dungeon, and I knew better than to let outside factors interfere in raids.
Especially this one, as this Dungeon raid was different from all others we had done in the past.
This time, we weren't in the Dungeon Miwen used to take us to.
While that one was considered an "Easy Dungeon" due to the low level cap on the first floor and the slow level cap growth, this one was said to be an "Impossible Dungeon".
The first floor alone had a level cap of 100 for both monsters and adventurers, and the next jumped straight to 325.
Meanwhile, Earth's adventurers hadn't yet made it past level 90.
As such, their only option to deal with the Boss was to allow the Dungeon to Rampage and kill it outside, with as many high-level and top-tier adventurers as they could muster.
Licia: "Alright, guys. We'll explore until we find the boss room or our time runs out, whichever happens first. If we get the chance, we'll separate into two groups. Team Moderation will continue on this floor, while Team Overkill will kill the boss and explore the next floor. Deal?"
Elizabeth: "How far should we explore the second floor?"
Licia: "Keep it reasonable. Remember, the level cap there is too high for the others..."
Elizabeth: "As you wish."
Initially, the only members of Team Overkill were Liz and Nissa.
These two were the only ones with levels high enough to challenge the entire second floor, and with both possessing healing abilities, we wouldn't have to worry even if they got hurt.
However, for the sake of fairness, I decided to let everyone choose which team they wanted to be in.
This way, I'd avoid any complaints, and we could start immediately, preserving as much time as possible.
While the Valkies were an easy inclusion due to being slightly overleveled for the first floor, everyone was surprised when Mia said she wouldn't join this team.
She excused herself, saying that she needed at least one hit to activate most of her powers, and thus wouldn't be much help, but in my opinion, she was showing restraint.
I was happy to see her mature, even if she seemed to be struggling a little, thanks to Claire's provocations.
And yes, Claire obviously joined the team that seemed most fun.
I was a little worried about her, since, like me and Mia, her level was low even by the first floor's standards, but Liz assured me she would take care of her.
Also, I already knew convincing her to give up was a waste of time.
And so, with the teams decided, we began exploring the first floor.
I had done my research on this Dungeon beforehand, but due to the low number of adventurers attempting a raid, the location of the Boss Room was never discovered.
Even the few routes that had been reasonably mapped were outdated due to the recent changes that allowed Earth's Dungeons to connect to other worlds.
We were pretty much going in blindly anyway, so we decided to pick a random path and follow it until we couldn't anymore, mapping it all so that we could return if need be.
While we didn't encounter many adventurers on our way, we did face quite a few variants of a monster species known as Formarids.
At first glance, these beasts resembled ants.
Except, of course, they were as tall as a horse.
Their carapaces were hard enough to block a sword strike of everyone but Anna, and their mandibles could easily pierce a shield of national treasure status.
Thankfully, it wasn't hard to notice them approaching.
The screeching sounds paired with the swarm's rumbling noises as they stepped on the ground, walls, and ceiling of the Dungeon gave us enough time to prepare.
Our formation was simple: Anna, Mia, Angie, Eir, and Skuld on the front would intercept and block the way of the oncoming swarm.
Claire, Lana, Liefdis, Lenard, and I would then deal with the second wave using magic, and if the first line were to be overwhelmed, we'd cover for them with magic-enhanced sword strikes.
Everyone else was on backline duty, supporting us by reducing the number of enemies reaching us and giving us a breather from time to time.
With such a large group, we had no choice but to take a wide path, but that also caused a lot of trouble, as the number of monsters we faced was easily in the hundreds.
Still, this much was expected.
After all, this Dungeon had not yet been conquered a single time, and with the crisis happening on Earth, the number of monsters close to their Gate had multiplied.
Mia: "So that's why you chose this... You wanted to buy them some time until the next Rampage by having us kill the first-floor boss."
Licia: "Ehehe~ You got me. I just thought it would be nice to give back to a world that has already given me so much."
Honestly, it was a little more selfish than that.
The world was already suffering enough, and it hurt me to see it.
That was all.
Mia: "Hah... You'd make an exceptional old lady."
Licia: "Eh?"
Mia never explained what she meant by that.
All she said was that I should take it as a compliment, but...
That was a little hard for me to do.
In any case, on our way, we met three variants of the Formarids.
The winged ones were smaller than the others, about the size of a dog, but their speed and movement made them incredibly hard to target.
They danced in the air, dodging our swords and flying past the frontline to directly attack our backs and the support line.
Our frontlines could only wait for a counterattack, but even that left us quite exposed.
Magic wasn't helping too much, either.
Nissa and Liz were fine, obviously, but the speed of these monsters allowed them to reach the frontlines too quickly for someone like Claire to wipe them out with an area attack.
And for mages like Bea, their 3d movements were too hard to keep track of.
In the end, Ellie saved us all.
She focused her attacks on their weak spots, and while she had to enhance her arrows to pierce them, the speed and precision she had was only outmatched by Liz and Nissa.
Still, it was hard to tell who between the three of them had killed more of the winged ones.
That alone was quite impressive.
Angie: "Gross..."
Mia: "I know. Ugh."
Angie and Mia were suffering a lot.
The high defense of the Formarids with shells forced the few of us with enough strength and firepower to use our full force, but unlike Anna, these two fought bare-handed.
Which meant directly hitting them.
This often ended with their arms piercing the bodies of the Formarids, spilling blood and guts everywhere.
Lana: "So... You're not eating them?"
Angelica: "...No."
Lana was the only one who could ever suggest something like that.
Almost everyone agreed that the thought itself was already disgusting, so no one suggested that Angelica eat them.
Most of us were disgusted enough to avoid the loot covered in blood without first having our mags clean with magic, but not Lana.
She collected everything with a blank expression.
Hell, sometimes she even seemed happy when I told her the estimated value of what she got.
Claire: "Careful!"
Anna: "Yeah, sorry..."
The bladed Formarids were the last variant we faced, right before we found the boss room.
They couldn't walk on the walls and the ceiling like the normal Formarids could, but the sharpness of their arms made up for it.
A single sword wasn't enough to stop them due to the multiple blades, so the second line constantly had to support the frontline.
This meant a lot of movement and coordination, which was hard and tiring.
Our closest calls were against them, but thankfully, no variation of Formarids could use magic, so these, lacking the wings and the shells, were easy targets for our mages.
We just had to be more careful with them.
Licia: "Alright, you guys have fun with the boss and the next floor. We'll meet outside in... An hour and a half!"
I was surprised by how well the raid had gone.
We managed to make more money than what was necessary for our plans, and we were lucky enough to find everything we needed in the first place we headed to.
Although, if I'm being honest, I felt like we were a little too lucky.
Considering Isa was with us, this shouldn't have been the case, unless we received some kind of Divine Interference from someone like an Endless.
I couldn't be entirely sure, especially with those two, but I was glad that everyone safely returned to the Kingdom.
The night had yet to fall.
Miwen was still distracted, losing every game to the First Daughter.
To the point that he became paranoid, thinking she was trying to hide Apollo's secrets.
And we had all the items and all the time we needed.
In other words, everything was perfect.
We finished our preparations ahead of time, and once it was officially his birthday, I went to the dining hall to bring Miwen out.
It was finally time for our efforts to pay off.